First wage public consultation in Cebu set for November 10

CEBU, Philippines - The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-7 scheduled the first wage public consultation in Cebu for November 10.

Metudio Belarmino, spokesperson of the Cebu Labor Center and one of the wage hike petitioners, said the public consultation aims to tackle the two petitions they filed and the one by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.

The CLC filed a wage petition last June 16 asking for a P140 increase in the daily wage while the TUCP filed a separate petition last May 3 seeking a raise in private workers' pay in Central Visayas by P161 per day.

Belarmino added that on October 25, all labor groups in Cebu and in Bohol will gather here to tackle the issues on the P125 across-the-board legislated wage increase and the P750 living wage or minimum wage all over the country.

"We will tackle all these issues and iron out all wage-related concerns before the public consultation," he said.

  It can be recalled that Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III directed all RTWPBs to conduct nationwide consultations on the legislative measures proposing for a P125 across-the-board general wage increase in the private sector.

  Bello added that the nationwide consultations are aimed at studying legislative measures which will be filed in the 17th Congress.

 The proposals have been filed since the 13th Congress. (FREEMAN)